Written by Ellen Piasentin
My three steps for research are:
- Research dead languages, how they are preserved and how languages die
- Research what languages are currently going out of style and what people are doing about it
- Research how languages are currently influencing each other, terminology in one language from another (ex. Déjà Vue) and how languages have historically merged
This information will help me understand where all the history behind changes in language and the current state of language disappearance as well as changes. I need to fully understand where all of this is coming from, the full history of it, before I can predict where it will go. By understanding what has happened in the past, I will be able to find patterns and consistencies that I can use to project how language will change in the future. Learning about the current state of language will help me see any recent increases in specific changes, and give me a starting point for my projection, in order to find my answer.
Six valid and useful sources to address my question are:
https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/what-endangered-language
https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/Sapir/Sapir_1921/Sapir_1921_09.html
http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/
https://www.alsintl.com/blog/languages-influence/
This question will have implications for other individuals and my community plainly because everyone speaks a language. Everyone in the world will be affected if there is one global language spoken because they will then all lose their languages and all the culture that comes with it. Moreover, the answer to the question could affect our school systems and the way that second languages are taught; maybe growing revered and possibly a necessary aspect of the school curriculum, in order to preserve as many languages as possible (although this would most likely just lead to more mixed languages and less “pure” ones). It may affect families, losing pieces of their history and cultures because they are unable to understand their language, and even create generational language barriers between grandparents and grandchildren, wherein they know and understand different languages and can’t communicate. In terms of internet language, it will always leave someone behind its ever-changing rules and terminology, and if it does change the course of official languages, it will put internet-savvy people ahead of those who aren’t. This could have multiple different effects on all of society, either pushing for true global connectedness or abandoning those who don’t understand. The loss of languages will not have a direct effect on me any time soon, as both French and English are very widespread languages. But it will directly and gravely affect small communities where their entire history and culture are told anéééd remembered through their language, but there are only a few left who speak it. As those few die, an irretrievable amount of knowledge and culture will be lost and whole communities won’t understand where they came from.